Craft Beer Review – Traquair House Ale

Traquair Jacobite Ale: Brewed in Scotland at the Traquair House in Innerleithen, this house ale is brewed to a strength of 7.2% abv in a historical landmark that was originally a hunting lodge for the Nobility of Scotland. I enjoyed this beer as a simple homage to Robbie Burns Day on Jan 25th, who never apparently entered the house but certainly would have passed by it. This particular ale has been brewed since 1965, that’s right for 50 years and originally it was done on a lot of the old equipment that had been there for 200 years and still is.

Aroma and Appearance: It pours a mahogany brown colour with 1 finger of foam and no visible carbonation. The aroma is plums, currants, toffee, cherries and just an overall mixture of any dark stone fruit you can think of.

Flavour: It has an earthy malt base with some black currants up front followed by toffee malt, concord grapes and caramel. Its body is a touch on the thin side with a soft mouth feel and it has a dry sherry like finish accompanied by lingering caramels and plums on the aftertaste.

Overall Impression: Solid beer, this is a good example of a house ale that you can sit and enjoy without blasting your taste buds.

Rating: I’d say 7.5/10, very good beer that is approachable yet flavourful.

Food Pairing: Would work great with a Scotch egg, perhaps one with some haggis in it.

They still ferment in unlined oak vats and they use natural spring water as their water source which gives it the softer texture. They are the last brewery in the UK to only use Oak vats as fermenters so I recommend trying their beer just for that alone. This video tour is fascinating, if I ever get to Scotland which I plan to one day as I’m a huge Scotch Whisky fan, I will make a stop in here to check it out.